A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Depending upon the location of the wildfire, a wildfire can be referred to by other names as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wildland fire. Wildfires, like other fires, have the potential for causing a great amount of damage to both property and life. A wildfire differs from other fires by its extensive size, the speed at which it can spread out from its original source, its potential to change direction unexpectedly, and its ability to jump gaps such as roads, rivers and fire breaks. Wildfires are characterized in terms of the cause of ignition, their physical properties such as speed of propagation, the combustible material present, and the effect of weather on the fire. Needless to say, wildfires present many challenges that are not presented by structure fires and other types of fires.
While some wildfires burn in remote forested regions, they can cause extensive destruction of homes and other property located in the wildland-urban interface: a zone of transition between developed areas and undeveloped wilderness. Properties in these zones of transition are often viewed by insurance companies as uninsurable properties against fire damage.
In the United States, the National Forest Service is primarily responsible for deploying firefighters throughout the nation to combat wildfires. These firefighters often work several weeks straight with minimal time off, especially during the summer months when wildfires are most prevalent. Moreover, the dangers of wildfires encountered by firefighters are many. As noted above, wildfires are often fast moving and susceptible to sudden changes in direction. Unfortunately, tools currently available to firefighting personnel as well as residents in zones of transition are rudimentary at best.
Many currently available personal fire shelter systems use a fire retardant material on the interior and exterior of the fire shelter structure. While the fire retardant material is useful at combating effects of heat and flame, the fire retardant material increases the weight of the shelter system and is unnecessary on the inside of the shelter structure. Prior art fire shelter systems also use a floor, which does not allow the cooling effect of cleared ground. Further still, prior art designs of fire shelter systems have an entrance on top of the shelter, creating an air inlet for combustible air to enter the shelter. Indeed, current designs in personal fire shelters leave much to be desired.
Similarly, current designs for residential, vehicular, and structural fire shelters are cumbersome and difficult to deploy. As an example, some currently-available residential fire shelters require hours to deploy because they are designed to completely cover the residential structure. As another example, vehicular fire shelters require manual deployment (e.g., unfolding and securing to the vehicle) and are therefore not usually capable of rapid deployment, especially when personnel is not right next to the vehicle.